Two Scars
by running with scissors
Summary: A Harry Potter/Lord of the Flies crossover; a bit unusual I know, but please R&R. Chapter 10 now up. *More chapters to come!*
1. We're Not in Kansas Anymore...

**_Author's Note/Disclaimer/Whatever you wanna call it:_ I do not own the rights to any of the "Harry Potter" characters, nor do I own the rights to any of the "Lord of the Flies" characters. (To the best of my knowledge) this is the only HP/LotF crossover on all of ff.n! Hurray, I'm first at something! Maybe I'll start a trend? Probably not, though. Oh, and please, no flames. I just figured I should say that since I know some of you will be tempted...**

Chapter One: We're Not In Kansas Anymore...

"How many of 'em are there?"

  
"We dunno. We didn't count, damn it! We were looking for pigs an' instead...we found these people."

  
"Well, could ya at least tell me _where_ you found them?"

  
"Out there."

  
Ralph rolled his eyes. "'Out there' is very informative," he drawled sarcastically, obviously exasperated.

  
"Why do you care, anyway?" Jack Merridew demanded with equal irritation. 

  
The boys' impending argument was disrupted by the stirring of a skinny, bespectacled child who had a scar across his forehead that was partially covered by a mop of messy black hair. He jumped slightly upon laying eyes on the two strangers, especially when he noticed one of them welded a spear. "What the - ?!" he started.

  
"It's...awake," murmured Jack.

  
"_He_'s awake," corrected Ralph.

  
Harry sighed. "Um, I can hear you, you know," he said. "I'd appreciate it if you'd speak _to_ me instead of _about_ me." He looked around the poorly built shelter, catching sight of the incapacitated forms of Ron, Fred & George, Ginny, Hermione, and...an involuntary sneer crossed his features. Draco Malfoy. Well, at least Crabbe and Goyle weren't with him...

  
Another person entered the hut and paused beside the fair-haired boy and the spear-carrying redhead. This one was another young boy, thin, short, and tanned, with dark hair, and he seemed surprised to see so many unfamiliar unconscious people lying around...and one awake, struggling to sit up.  
"What - how - where did -?" Simon paused, trying to think of a way to phrase his question that didn't sound rude.

  
He didn't need to. For once, Ralph and Jack understood what he was trying to convey. "Me an' my hunters found 'em," explained the former choir leader. 

"They were looking for pigs again, 'stead of tending the fire," said Ralph, "but for once I guess that's not such a bad thing."   
  
Harry was beginning to get annoyed. "I don't suppose one of you would mind telling me where I am?" he suggested. He didn't understand any of this; one minute, he'd been in the Gryffindor common room, the next...  
  
"You're on an island," replied the undersized, dark-haired boy.  
  
Harry nodded slowly. "How?"  
  
The fair-haired boy frowned. "What do you mean, 'how'?"  
  
"Do you know how I got here?"  
  
"No," was the unanimous response from all three children.  
"We just found you," said the flame-haired boy, carelessly waving his spear, "how're we s'pose to know how you go here?"  
  
Slowly, the other Hogwarts students began to stir. Gasps of shock and disbelief escaped them. "Oh my God," muttered Hermione, shaking her head, "where - ?"

  
"We're on an island," said Harry, unable to say anything more.  
  
His bushy-haired female friend nodded. Her eyes widened at the sight of the three dirty strangers. "_Which_ island?"  
  
"Do you mean, like the name of it?" asked Simon. Hermione nodded.  
  
"We don't know the name of it," Ralph informed her.  
  
"What?" spit out Draco, his voice thick with disbelief. "You don't know the name of your own island?"  
  
"I'm scared," Ginny was whimpering, "I wanna go home..."  
  
Ron was glancing around, taking everything in without saying anything. Finally he spoke. "There aren't any..._spiders..._here, are there?"  
  
"Not that we know of," said Simon kindly, a bit puzzled.  
  
"What're all your names, anyway?" Ralph asked.  


"I'm Fred," said George.

  
"I'm George," said Fred. 

Harry ignored the twins' joke. "I'm Harry," he introduced himself, unable to remember if he'd already told them that or not, "that's Ron, Hermione, Ginny...and Draco."

"I'm Ralph; this is Simon an' Jack. There's more of us, though; you can meet them soon." 


	2. O, What Fools Ye Muggles Be!

**_Author's Note:_ Many thanks to Jax and Lady Erisanna for the reviews. Oh, and I don't own HP or LotF! **

Chapter Two: O, What Fools Ye Muggles Be!

  
"More of you?" inquired Draco with an obnoxiously raised left eyebrow. The children nodded and the Slytherin continued. "How many more?"  
"We don't know," answered Ralph.  
"You don't know much, do you?" Draco grumbled icily. Louder, he asked, "How long until we meet them?"  
"Probably now, if you want," Simon offered, glancing at Ralph, who nodded.  
A thought suddenly struck Harry as the boys turned to go. "Wait!" he called after them, "Have any of you seen my wand?"  
At his question, his friends realized their wands were gone as well, and Jack had to shout over the din of voices to be heard. "Your _whats_?"  
"Our wands," Harry repeated, saying the word slowly, clearly.  
Ron nodded. "Yeah - did you see 'em?"  
The hunter shook his head with listless disbelief. He turned to Ralph and Simon. The fair-haired boy just shrugged. Simon had gone.  
Jack's initial confusion and annoyance was replaced by amusement. "Wands?" he asked. They just nodded.   
"Like a magician on T.V. would have?" Ralph queried incredulously.  
_They're Muggles!_ Harry realized suddenly. The others seemed to have sensed this, too, because they said no more about wands and Ralph's question was left unanswered. 

"Just how long d'you s'pose those people were in the sun before you found them?" Ralph asked before putting his lips on the conch.   
"They are dressed rather oddly," said Jack, "D'you think they're part of some kind of magic act?"  
"Maybe a cult," Ralph suggested before blowing again.

Inside the hut, Hermione and Harry were doing their best to explain to the purebloods what a T.V. was.   
"A _Muggle device? _So, these people are _Muggles_?" Draco murmured distastefully.  
Harry nodded. "'Fraid so, Malfoy."  
Fred and George looked painfully disappointed.  
"If only we had our wands!" Fred shook his head.  
"Yeah," mumbled George, "then we could have some _real_ fun..." 


	3. Now What?

**_Author's Note:_ I would like to thank Hawkins, Jax, and Morwenna for the reviews. Although I know we've been over this twice already, I believe there's some kind of unspoken rule that I say it at the beginning of every chapter: I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO EITHER OF THESE BOOKS IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM. **

Chapter Three: Now What? 

The other boys came running (or scurrying or stumbling) when they heard the loud, trumpeting call of the conch. Simon, Piggy, and Samneric, who hadn't been very far away to begin with, got there first; it wasn't long before the band of hunters came jogging out of the forest; then finally the littluns, who usually took about three or four hours to get anywhere, slowly waddled towards Ralph and Jack.  
"What is it?"  
"Whatsa problem?"  
"_Now_ what?"  
Ralph held up a hand, vying for silence. "You hunters, you remember those strange people in robes you found? Those people that fainted?"  
The hunters nodded solemnly. Roger grinned like he was going to make a smart remark, but said nothing.   
Ralph continued. "Well, they're awake now...an' they're kinda batty."  
A few of the older boys raised their eyebrows with amusement. "Batty how?" asked one of the hunters.  
"Either that or they're magicians or something - they were talking about wands."  
Piggy snorted as he tried to clean his glasses. "Wands? Wands don't do no good."  
"Shut up, Fatty!" barked Jack.  
"Look!" somebody shouted, pointing, calling everyone's attention to the students of Witchcraft and Wizardry slowly emerging from one of the three shelters.   


"What are they doing?" Ron hissed in Harry's ear.  
Harry shrugged. "I dunno. I've never seen Muggles do anything quite like this before." From his experiences at the Dursley home and the Muggle school he'd attended as a very young child, Muggle ceremonies involved far more noise and confusion and obscene language, and a T.V. or similar was invariably present. Then again, where did you get a T.V. from when you were stranded on an island?  
"Maybe they're nutters?" Ron suggested.  
Harry nodded. "Could be. Who knows?"  
The mages stopped three feet in front of the gathering. Draco stepped forward slightly, surveying the semicircle with a scant sneer. "Who're these?" he asked Ralph and Jack, though he didn't turn to look at them.  
Ralph introduced those whose names he knew. He brushed the majority of the younger children aside as "the littluns", causing Hermione to pull a face. *Honestly,* she couldn't help thinking, *it couldn't be that hard to learn names?* Ron, for his part, wondered why Muggle parents named their children things like "Piggy".  
Ralph explained to the boys who didn't know what the Hogwarts company was doing on the island, introducing them one by one. He confused the Weasley twins, and Fred and George were quick to take advantage of that ("He's Fred, I'm George"; "No, _you're_ Fred, remember?"; "Oh yeah, I'm Fred and he's Louie").   
But when who's-who was sorted out, the question was: _now what?_


	4. Wizards Isn't Real!

**_Disclaimer:_ I don't own HP or LotF. **

_Credits:_ Many thanks to lily, Jax, and everyone else who took the time to read this. To reviewers everywhere is this fanfic hereby dedicated! 

Chapter Four: "Wizards Isn't Real!"

A nauseating wave of deja vu washed over Ralph as he waded waist-deep in the bathing pool. "Hand me another one," he called over his shoulder to Simon. Simon fumbled slightly as he handed another cumbersome log to Ralph. They were building a wall that cut off a small section of the bathing pool so that Hermione and Ginny could wash too if they wanted. Nearly everyone had volunteered, but once again, only Simon had stayed. Hermione occasionally appeared from the woods, inquired as to how they were doing, offered some small assistance, and was gone again, but only Ralph and Simon were doing any real work.   
  
"Hunting? Those poor animals?" Hermione asked, eyes widening with disgust.  
"Yup," Roger said tersely as he continued to sharpen his spear.  
Hermione glowered. "You're sick!"   
The boy looked up at her for a few seconds and shrugged as he returned to the spear. "Maybe," he said too casually for the witch's comfort.  
"Who's in charge of this..._hunting_?" she spit out the last word like it was a filthy germ she could catch if she didn't dispel it quickly enough.  
"Jack," answered Roger coolly. "Now you're in the way. Move it." He gestured with his spear for her to step to the side.   
Hermione shook her head and strode away. 

A few littluns watched as Harry and Ron walked frantically up and down the beach and through the jungle, murmuring stuff about the wands they'd mentioned earlier and some obscure item called an _Invisibility_ _Cloak_.   
"Maybe they're..._wizards_," Percival Whemys Madison suggested fearfully.  
"You think so?" breathed a wide-eyed Johnny. "Oooh..."  
"They're not wizards," scoffed Henry, a bit preoccupied with the anthill he was destroying, "Wizards isn't real." 


	5. Your Attention, Please!

**_Disclaimer: _I don't own the rights to either of these books, goddamn it!**

_Credits: _Countless thanks to Jax and Erisana Sylverbranch (love the new name, btw!) for the reviews, and everybody who reads this.

Chapter Five: Your Attention, Please!  
  
"That's it!" Ralph shouted irritably, suddenly fed up. The fair-haired boy heedlessly tossed the clumsy log away into the pool, splashing Simon.   
"Oof!" Simon protested at that unexpected shower.   
Ralph, not in any mood to be apologetic, ignored the other as he dragged himself out of the pool.

"Whaddya s'pose these are for, anyway?" Fred asked thoughtfully, running his fingers up and down one of the spears he and George had "borrowed". George shrugged. "I think...I think they're like those sharp things prehistoric Muggles used to kill stuff. I forget what they're called," he said, then added as an afterthought,"They taught us about them in Muggle Studies, remember?"  
The troublesome Weasley twins were interrupted by a rude trumpeting sound. "What the-?!" Fred yelped.   
George, too, was visibly startled but then shrugged again. "I dunno." He turned to face his brother, his eyes gleaming mischievously. "But we should prolly go check it out."  
"Yeah," Fred agreed, grinning.

"You found those wands yet, Potter?" Draco demanded bitterly.   
"No," Harry responded sharply, crawling on his hands and knees beside Ron.  
"You could help too, Malfoy!" Ron sneered, standing up.   
Draco faced the two Gryffindors with a sour expression. "I could," he consented haughtily. He was going to say something more, was interrupted by the call of the conch. Ron and Draco forgot their differences long enough to chorus, "What was that?" and look expectantly at Harry, who knew about Muggle ways, for an explanation.  
The Boy Who Lived just shrugged as stood. He suspected the noise came from a trumpet or something like that, but where would stranded Muggles get a trumpet from? "Don't look at me. I've got no idea what they're doing," he said earnestly.  
Ron sighed resignedly. "Maybe we'd better go see."

"Jack!" Hermione called heatedly. "Jack!"  
The redheaded hunter emerged from the forest. "What?" he asked, eyeing Hermione.   
"Why," the witch demanded, "are you hunting those innocent animals?"  
Jack's eyebrows went up. "The pigs?"  
"Yes, the pigs!"  
"Food," Jack replied coldly.  
Hermione snorted. "There's fruit. I really don't see why - " she was cut off by the long, low call of the shell.  
"Another assembly," Jack muttered with a hint of bitter disgust in his voice.  
*An assembly?* wondered Hermione. 


	6. A Very Bad Sign

**_Disclaimer & Credits:_**** Don't own LotF or HP. Never have, never will. Deal with it. Oh, and many, many thank-yous for the revie to Broadwaypoetess, superhan (like your title btw - I'll use it if I can't think of anything better! ^_^), and Jax! ******

Chapter Six: A Very Bad Sign 

Ralph's body relaxed slightly as he ceased blowing and allowed the conch to hang limply by his side. He lifted his other arm to his face to shield his eyes from the malevolent sunshine. "Where are they?" he muttered.   
Simon struggled to stand on legs that had lost circulation from being sat on. "There," he said, pointing. He smiled reassuringly. "See, Ralph? They're coming."  
Lowering his raised hand, Ralph heaved a sigh. "Took 'em long enough," he grumbled, then returned the other's smile. He gestured widely for silence from everyone. They almost immediately obeyed, waiting in eager anticipation for an assembly.  
However, there would be no such assembly; Ralph just pointed to the pool and said, "Back to work. All of you. Now."  
There were loud groans of protest as the boys started to pick up logs.   
"What 'bout my asthma?" Piggy protested.  
"Sucks to your ass-mar," Ralph sighed, then, pointing toward the mages, he added, "You, too."  
The Hogwarts students glanced at each other, shrugged, and started to work, Draco mumbling something obscene under his breath about the "stupid Muggles". 

At last the wall was dismissed as "good enough" and everyone who hadn't wandered off already abandoned the remainder of the project. The sun was setting, and some of the smaller children waddled toward the huts to go to sleep.   
Jack and company had headed in the jungle to hunt (and look for the two "misplaced" spears)...although they couldn't escape Hermione, who had apparently decided to pass time by lecturing them on the errors of their ways, and why wild hogs had as much right as anyone to life. "Honestly!" she shouted at them in the most disapproving tone she could muster as they disappeared into the trees. She was answered by all the things Jack would have done to her if she wasn't a girl. 

Draco leaned against the palm tree in meditative posture, his eyes closed and his head resting on his chest. A small hand on his knee made his eyes flutter open.   
"Ask him!" Henry whispered bossily in Johnny's ears.  
"No," Johnny whimpered, "I touched him - _you_ ask him."  
"No, you!"  
"You!"  
"Fine," Henry snorted.   
*What is their problem?* Draco wondered irritably, glancing from the first little boy to the second. "Um, mister," one of them asked shyly, "are you a...wizard?"  
*How could they know?* the young mage wondered. "Yes," Draco drawled, eyeing them. They squeaked and the Slytherin couldn't help but smile...silly Muggles..."Yes, I am, and...I'm going to..." Draco paused to think. What were Muggles afraid of? Oh, yes, he remembered someone saying that the Muggles thought wizards would turn them into frogs...."turn you both into frogs!"  
The two frightened children shot each other glances before running as fast as they could away from the Draco.  
"I knew he was a wizard!" Johnny started to cry. "I knew it!" 

Harry and Ron ambled up and down the scar of the isle with increasing boredom.  
"Where do you s'pose Fred and George are?" Ron said after awhile.  
Harry shrugged. "Dunno," he said absently.  
"Anywhere, knowing them," Ron said, answering his own question. Then another question posed itself. "Ginny - where's she?"  
Harry yawned. "Just fine, I'm sure."  
Ron shook his head, frowning. "Harry, what's your problem? Why're you so...out of it?"   
Harry deliberated with himself for a few seconds before deciding not to tell Ron about the slight pain that was shooting up his scar, knowing what his friend's reaction would be if...  
"Tired, I guess," the Boy Who Lived replied lamely. 


	7. A Very, Very Bad Sign

**_Disclaimer and Author's Note:_ Don't own LotF or HP in any way, shape, or form. Oh, and countless thanks to Erisana, Jax, and IcaWolf.**

Chapter Seven: A Very, Very Bad Sign

Ralph tilted his head slightly. "You hear that?"  
Piggy frowned. "Hear what?" He tilted his head, too, but he couldn't hear anything.  
"_That_," Ralph said, "like, screaming."  
"Screaming?" It was still a few minutes before Piggy could hear high-pitched shrieks. "Ooh," he said nervously, "I bet it's gotta do with Jack..."  
Henry and Johnny appeared, terrified and out of breath. Johnny was crying. "Wizards!" Henry shouted.  
Befuddled, Ralph raised an eyebrow. "Wizards?" he asked.   
They moved their little heads up and down in exaggerated nods. "Them in the robes," explained Henry, wide-eyed, "they're wizards! Dragon is going to turn us into frogs!"  
*Dragon?* Ralph's mind echoed. Then he realized the littlun must have been referring to Draco.   
Piggy scoffed. "He ain't no wizard. He's jus' trying to scare you." Henry and Johnny, who had finally gotten his sniffles under control, looked conspiratorially at each other and then back at Piggy with visibly sarcastic expressions that plainly said _Yeah, right._   
Ralph, recalling the vague exchange about wands in the shelter, was inclined to agree with Henry and Johnny.

Simon was tired, but he had no real desire to sleep. Instead, he had gone to the jungle. Mostly to think, but also to dream. To dream and to -  
*Who's that?* Simon jumped at the sound of someone tramping around not far from him, but then relaxed with a slight smile. So, he wasn't the only one out at night...thinking...  
Oh, wait. Simon realized sadly that it was most probably one of the hunters looking for pigs or the nonexistent "Beast".   
The Beast...he sighed. He wanted to tell them, but it seemed like...he couldn't... Simon shut his eyes, unable to ward off sleep any longer.

Harry's pain suddenly increased so much that he yelled and feel to the ground.   
"Harry!" Ron shouted, helping his friend to his feet. "Are you OK?"  
Harry smiled weakly. "I - ahh!" His hand flew to his forehead. "Voldemort!"  
Ron shuddered at the name. "What does...You-Know-Who have to do with any of this?"  
"I dunno," Harry said, "I honestly don't know." 


	8. Rainy Nights...

**_Disclaimer and A/N:_ Once again, I don't own LotF or HP. Once again, thanks to my readers and reviewers; Jax, thanks for reviewing every chapter! (Oh, and Broadwaypoetess, you need not worry; I like Simon too and he will be fine. ^_^ Actually, as of yet I have no intention of killing off anyone.)**

Chapter Eight: Rainy Nghts...

"Uh - Draco," Ralph called nervously as the blonde wizard strode by.   
"Yes?" the Slytherin asked, a vaguely rude smile curling on his lips.  
"These two here," Ralph said, gesturing toward Johnny and Henry, "they think you're..."  
"A wizard?" Draco offered.  
Ralph, eyeing Draco uneasily, gave a short, nervous laugh. "Yeah." The littluns whimpered.   
"You shouldn't be scarin' littluns like that," Piggy said scornfully, but he kept his face averted.   
Draco surveyed the four of them for a few minutes, his smile dissolving into obnoxious chuckles. Then, as he walked away without saying a word, it started to rain.

"Did we finally lose her?" Jack asked hopefully, glancing over his shoulder. Roger nodded without saying anything. The hunters visibly relaxed; some even grinned.  
"I thought she'd _never_ leave us alone," Maurice confessed.  
"Yeah," added Robert, "she's batty!"  
Jack smiled, but then felt a drop of water on his shoulder...and another on his nose...and another on his left ear...  
"It's starting to rain," their flame-haired leader declared unhappily, "we'd...better go back to the shelters."

Simon was stirred by the odd sensation of water falling on him from the sky. *It's raining,* he thought simply, tiredness still refusing the evacuate from him entirely. Yawning and staggering to his feet, Simon tried to rub the sleep from his eyes. Ignoring the strange feeling that someone was watching him, he climbed through the foliage toward the shelters.

Trying to ignore the drizzle, Harry whispered urgently to Ron, "We better keep an eye on all the Muggles...especially since..." he didn't need to finish; Ron nodded, understanding.   
"Yeah."  
They could see Hermione emerging from one end of the forest; that one boy Simon was trailing not far behind her...at almost the opposite end a group of boys with spears were approaching...  
Out the corner of his eye, Harry could see Draco harassing some of the younger Muggles.   
Fred and George materialized from seemingly nowhere. "Ron, where's Ginny?" Fred asked casually.  
"I dunno," Ron replied nervously.  
The twins shrugged. "She'll show up, I guess," George figured as Harry and Ron followed he and Fred to where Hermione, Draco, and the Muggles were gathering.  
"Of course," Harry said assuredly, not feeling sure in the least. 


	9. ...and Cloudy Days

**_A/N and Disclaimer:_ Thank you, Jax, for the review, and a great big thank-you to superhan for the title idea - I've decided to use it. *Grins*  
Oh, and of course, I DO NOT OWN EITHER OF THESE BOOKS!**

Chapter Nine:...and Cloudy Days

"Ginny," Ron hissed when his sister joined he and Harry inside the circle of shivering bodies, "where were you?"   
She shrugged. "Just...around," she said defensively.   
Ron rolled his eyes. "You're nutters."   
"So're you," she responded.  
Ralph was trying to say...something...but the chattering of his teeth made it inaudible.   
"Ah, hell!" he finally managed, "let's j-j-just ge-get inside the shelters!" 

Harry suddenly sat bolt upright, some mysterious internal mechanism rudely thrusting him into consciousness.  
He stood on shaky legs and stumbled outside. It was morning. No longer raining, but gray and overcast.   
*Must be pretty late,* he thought drowsily, *it looks like everybody else is awake already.*

"What are you doing out here?"  
Simon jumped slightly. "Thinking," he answered, turning to face the speaker, smiling politely even though he couldn't recall for the life of him the girl's name.   
Hermione returned his smile. "Thinking," she repeated, then asked, "What about?"  
Simon shifted. "Nothing important," he fibbed. 

Ralph nodded curtly to Harry. "Morning," he said.  
Harry rubbed his eyes. "Uh-huh," he yawned, wondering where Ron and Malfoy were. "You seen Ron or Mal - Draco anywhere?"   
Ralph shook his head.   
Harry frowned. "Thanks anyway," he said as went off to look for his best friend and his worst enemy, trying to ignore the slight burning of his scar.

George kicked a rock. "I'm bored," he sigh-whined.  
Fred nodded. "Me, too," he said glumly. The two of them walked aimlessly in silence for awhile. Then, Fred poked George in the ribs.  
"What was that - ?"  
Fred motioned for his twin to be silent. "Can you hear 'em?"  
George grinned. "Yeah...sounds like there's two or three..."  
"Remember that beast thing they were mumbling about in their sleep last night?"  
"Yeah." George wasn't sure he knew what Fred was getting at, but he could guess...smiling, he asked, "So, whaddya think a beast looks like?"  
Fred pondered that for a few minutes. "I don't know," he said thoughtfully, "probably branches for antlers, or something like that..." 


	10. Didja See Their Faces?!

**_A/N and Disclaimer:_ I do not own HP or LotF. I would like to thank all who read and review this. Come on people, keep those reviews coming!**

Chapter Ten: "Didja See Their Faces?!"

Ron and Draco stopped in the middle of the scar and stood facing each other. Ron scowled and put up his fists threateningly.  
"You wanna fight, Malfoy? Fine! Let's fight!"  
Draco snorted. "Please, Weasley! You know I could kick your - "  
"Ahhhhh!" The pair of antagonistic wizards were interrupted by terrified squeals from somewhere in the jungle.

"Roar!" Fred and George, adorned with mud, leaves, twigs, and anything else they could find that they thought would make them look like the kind of mythical animals Hagrid was always bringing around, leapt out from behind the trees, their arms flailing wildly.   
The three painted children cast their spears to the ground and ran.   
"Ahhhh! The beasts...the beasts!"

"What's that?" Hermione asked nervously. "It sounds like someone's hurt..."  
Simon shook his head. "They're just yelling about their beast again." He sounded sad...no, more than sad. Melancholy.  
"Their...beast?"   
Simon nodded slowly. "They talk about a beastie," he sighed, "a snake thing, in their sleep. Sometimes when they're awake."  
Hermione tilted her head slightly. "How do you know they talk in their sleep?" she asked Simon, helping him up, "Do you stay awake at night?"  
"Sometimes," he yawned. 

Harry could see Ron and Draco arguing. He briefly marveled at his own luck, finding them before they murdered each other. Ignoring the screams ricocheting through the air, Harry jogged toward Ron and Draco.  
"Whadda you doing, Malfoy?" he snarled.  
"Don't look at me!" Draco spat. "Weasel here started it."  
"Did not!" protested Ron. It suddenly struck Harry that they sounded like a pair of squabbling two-year-olds.

Fred and George collapsed on the ground in a mess of hysterical cackling.  
"Did...you...see...their...faces?" Fred gasped. George was laughing too hard to say anything at all.  
But the pair of jokers weren't laughing for very long.   



End file.
